Stony Brook Edges Bulldogs, 73-68

STONY BROOK, N.Y. - Junior forward Melissa Colborne scored 18 of her game-best 24 points in the second half, and junior forward Haywood Wright posted her first double-double of the season, but the Yale women's basketball team fell at Stony Brook on Monday evening by a score of 73-68.

Yale fell to 3-4 with the loss while the Seawolves earned their first win of the season, improving to 1-7.

Colborne netted a season-best 24 points for the second consecutive game, and 12 successful free throws attempts tied a Yale record. Wright matched her career high of 16 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. Sophomore Mady Gobrecht led the Bulldogs with four assists and reached a career high with four blocked shots.

The Seawolves jumped out to an early lead, knocking down 5 of their first 7 attempts from the floor, but a Wright jumper at 12:07 gave the Bulldogs a 16-15 lead that they would not relinquish in the opening frame. Wright led all players in the frame with 12 points and nine rebounds, as Yale entered the intermission leading by eight, 35-27. Senior guard Jamie Van Horne added eight points in the half, and Colborne contributed six points and three rebounds. Freshman guard Brianna Segerson netted five points, sophomore forward Mady Gobrecht notched two and guards Yoyo Greenfield and Ashley Easley each tallied one point to round out the Bulldogs' first-half scoring. Destiny Jacobs led Stony Brook in the stanza with eight points and five boards.

As a team, Yale shot 12-for-27 (44.4%) from the floor, 9-for-14 (64.3%) from the free throw line and 2-for-7 (28.6%) from three point range. The Seawolves shot 9-for-27 (33.3%) from the field, 9-for-15 (60%) from the stripe and missed their lone attempt from downtown. Yale outrebounded the home team 22-18, and the turnover battle for the first half was knotted at 12-12.

A stretch of 6:02 without a Yale field goal early in the second half gave Stony Brook a chance to cut the lead as low as two points, but the Bulldogs sank all 11 of their free throw attempts in that stretch to maintain their edge. A Greenfield three-ball at 13:22 ended the drought from the floor and pushed the lead back to nine points at 50-41. The nine point lead held up for the next five minutes of action, but an 8-0 Stony Brook run over the ensuing four minutes cut the lead to a single point at 60-59 with 4:09 remaining. A three-point play from Jacobs gave the Seawolves their first lead since early in the first half at 66-64 with 2:33 remaining, and a lay-up by Colborne with 1:19 on the clock knotted the score at 66-66. A Kairsten Nunn put-back with 39 seconds left gave Stony Brook the lead once again, and she added a free throw to bring the lead back to three. Colborne scored for Yale with 31 seconds left to cut the deficit back to one, but a pair of free throws brought the Seawolves' lead back to three at 71-68. The Bulldogs turned the ball over on their ensuing possession, and Stony Brook made another pair of foul shots with four seconds left to push the score to its eventual final of 73-68.

Yale shot just 5-for-23 (21.7%) from the field, 22-for-24 (91.7%) from the foul line and 1-for-5 (20%) from deep in the frame. Stony Brook heated up in the second half, shooting 15-for-32 (46.9%) from the floor, 16-for-24 (66.7%) from the line and 0-for-1 from three-point range. The Seawolves won the battled under the boards by a margin of 25-15 and committed 10 turnovers to the Bulldogs' 12 miscues in the stanza.

Misha Horsey led Stony Brook with 16 points. Jacobs added 13 and led the Seawolves with eight rebounds. Joia Daniels netted 11 for the home team, and Kirsten Jeter was the fourth Seawolf in double figures with 10 points.

The Bulldogs return the court on Wednesday, Dec. 10 at Patriot League opponent Army. Tip-off from West Point, N.Y. is scheduled for 7 p.m.